ugh, why the "glamour" shot? why not use the enlisted picture of her in front of the flags, like most stories about male soldiers use?

That is a really incredible article. As someone who views this war as Vietnam II, it boggles my mind why anyone, really, is being questioned on mental illness. I lived right outside of Ft. Hood, the largest military base in the United States, for over twenty years, and my grandfather was a chief master sergeant in the Air Force. My grandfather taught me a lot about the military and War, but one thing he always made very clear was that the biggest problem regarding women in the military was not this rumored desire for men to protect women with their unwavering chivalry, but the harm the men did to women who were few and far between, women who were seen as deserving of punishment for joining in on this good ol' boys club, this fraternity of brutes.

My grandfather met my grandmother in the Air Force. She was one of the first women to fly in the Air Force, and my grandfather and a gang of his buddies planned to expose her as a failure (because she was a woman) by disassembling her engine. But my grandfather met her at a bar that night, and found out that she was much more than just a woman, and had been granted the privilege to fly for a reason. My grandfather called off the prank, and five years later, after they had toured Europe and survived Pearl Harbor together, my grandmother proposed to him.

Women are strong, and I really believe they can do anything a man can when it comes to a career in the armed forces, but the threat to women doesn't lie in the enemy any more than it does for a man; it lies within her outfit and the assholes who refuse to move forward. If a woman is not responding well to duty, the military needs to take a look at itself for blame.

Women are discriminated on every level in the military.

My Father, stepfather, both grandfathers, and 3 brothers all served in the military.

The stories they would tell me gave me the creeps.

Not only is discrimination rampant, there is no protection in place to safeguard female soldiers from the males. (fellow soldiers, not combat enemies)

The statistics speak worlds for themselves.

I think the root of the problem here, with this war, is not that we have female soldiers, but that we are redeploying all our soldiers too many times, and not providing adequate mental health care when they come home, or in the field. I mean, a lot of militaries in the world have a lot of female soldiers - Britain, Israel, etc.

Wow, the stats about investigations of versus court-martials for sexual assault are appalling. In the civilian population, 46% of reported rapes/sexual assaults are prosecuted. The armed forces are barely clearing 10%.

honwood: Check out this analysis/discussion on the photographs accompanying this article. I found it very insightful as to why the photographs look like glamour/provocative shots.
http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/03/19/ptsd-cheesecake/

As long as we are in "Holy shit" mode, here is another fun statistic regarding the military and women:

"The Pentagon's gay discharge statistics show that women comprised 31% of gay discharges last year, though they are only 14% of the active duty force. The percentage of women being discharged under the gay policy is the highest in at least two decades."

http://www.sldn.org/templates/dadt/record.html?section=22&record=21

Since women are more likely to self-identify as bisexual or lesbian, that's pretty much what you'd expect.

i wouldn't expect any man to self-identify as a lesbian.

Though there was that lesbian-identified male character in The L Word, so who knows...

I've forwarded this story to several friends and colleagues working in women's rights. After reading it last night, I am still speechless.

"Since women are more likely to self-identify as bisexual or lesbian, that's pretty much what you'd expect."

I don't think that necessarily has anything to do with it:

A.) You don't need to "self-identify" to be discharged under DADT. You don't even need to be gay. Enforcement of DADT is often largely arbitrary, depending much on personal attitudes.

B.) I'm sorry that I don't have a link to the statistic that backs this up, but I believe this information comes from the same study that shows that women are disproportionately discharged under DADT: Non-white women are discharged at an even more drastically disproportionate rate than white women in military service. I think it goes without saying that a group that faces greater discrimination faces a greater risk of abuse and intolerance. Military law is full of arbitrarily-enforced policies that serve to get rid of unwanted people.

C.) Whether it is sexual coercion itself, or blackmail to keep a woman from reporting a sexual assault, knowledge of sexual orientation is used to manipulate lesbians and bisexual women in the military in ways that are not likely to be used against men.

D.) I could be wrong, but I don't think women self-identify as non-heterosexual at twice the rate at which men do.

I think that lesbians in the military are simply at greater risk of being outed or being resented for their orientation. They also face the enormous risk of sexual assault that all women in the military face, as well as the punishments victims receive for reporting sexual crimes, except that for lesbians, reporting sexual crimes often may entail being discharged under DADT.

Xana,

thanks for the link. it is an interesting point. i still don't care for it and wish they'd used the military issue photos. i work in a military establishment where sexist behavior is so ingrained that most don't even realize it and it infuriates me on a daily basis. i wish it weren't bleeding over to the msm with stories such as this. i find it distracting from the story (that definitely needs to be told) that soldiers are being assaulted by fellow soldiers.

http://www.regrettheerror.com/2007/03/source_deludes_.html

Troubled source deludes herself -- and the NYT Magazine

The woman in the photos lied. She never went to Iraq or reported a rape.

At least the story was "exhaustively researched" ;)